Are partnership boards really valuing people?

Observations were conducted in three county councils to find out whether the government’s ambition to develop Learning Disability Partnership Boards (as expressed in the White Paper Valuing people) are being realized. All the partnerships practiced various inclusive activities in order to involve people with learning disabilities in public service strategies. However, there appeared to be limited opportunities for citizens to be involved in recommendations or decision‐making for their area. This concurs with other research elsewhere on the involvement of citizens in state provision, i.e. public participation in civic affairs remains in the control of public sector managers. The lack of opportunities for citizens to direct the allocation of resources and strategies at a local level, regardless of their ability to process information, emphasises the limits of New Labour’s citizen–public sector partnerships.     

No Fun Anymore: Leisure and Marital Quality Across the Transition to Parenthood

This study examines changes in leisure patterns across the transition to parenthood for dual‐earner, working‐class couples, as well as the relationship between leisure and marital quality. To this end, 147 heterosexual couples were interviewed across the transition to parenthood. Findings indicate that during the transition to parenthood, husbands and wives experience an initial decline in leisure, followed by a gradual incline after the wife’s return to work. Overall, wives who reported more shared leisure prenatally also reported more marital love and less conflict 1 year later. Husbands with more independent leisure prenatally reported less love and more conflict 1 year later. Conclusions suggest leisure time is integral to well‐functioning marriages, with effects lasting throughout the first year of parenthood.     

Child sexual abuse: from prevention to self‐protection

There are a growing number of child abuse prevention and education programmes, including primarily group‐based parent and child education, which are taught by teachers within the school system. This article reviews some of the existing sexual abuse education and/or body safety programmes, as well as the research surrounding them. Advantages as well as criticisms of such programmes are reviewed. Issues such as target populations (i.e. children, teachers, parents), programme components and methodological limitations are addressed. Major findings include: children as young as three can be effectively taught self‐protection skills, parental and family involvement in training is important, and repeated exposure helps children maintain knowledge gains. The components of successful programmes include teaching children to identify and resist inappropriate touching, reassuring children that it is not their fault and learning the proper names of their genitals. Finally, future directions for programme development, research and policy are explored. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Ancestry Question and Ethnic Heterogeneity: The Case of Arab Americans

This article uses US Census data to investigate change over time in Arab American profiles. In 2000, a higher proportion of children (0 to 13 years of age), women, and those who lived in the Northeast identified with an Arab/non‐Arab ancestry compared to an Arab‐only ancestry. In 1980 and 2000, a higher proportion (~90%) of those who identified with an Arab/non‐Arab ancestry was US born compared to only one‐half of those who identified with an Arab‐only ancestry. Those who identified with an Arab‐only ancestry were more likely to not be US citizens than those who identified with an Arab/non‐Arab ancestry. These findings suggest Arab Americans are a heterogeneous group.     

Mother and Daughter Reports About Upward Transfers

Using 619 mother‐daughter dyads interviewed in the 1997 National Longitudinal Surveys of Mature Women and Young Women, this study examines the assistance that adult daughters provide to their mothers and its covariates. Mothers and daughters have low levels of agreement on transfers. Using mothers’ reports identifies different covariates of transfers than using daughters’ reports. After discrepancies between mother and daughter reports are controlled for, only 3 out of 17 covariates examined are related to transfers, including mothers’ widowhood status, the number of mothers’ difficulties with activities of daily living, and the distance between mother and daughter residences. These findings suggest that without controlling for discrepancies between mother and daughter reports, the covariates of upward transfers may be inaccurately identified.     

Linking Perceived Discrimination to Longitudinal Changes in African American Mothers’ Parenting Practices

This longitudinal study was designed to test hypotheses, derived from a stress proliferation framework, regarding the association between perceived racial discrimination and changes in parenting among African American mothers in the rural South. A sample of 139 mothers and their children were interviewed 3 times at 1‐year intervals. Mothers reported on perceived discrimination and two proliferated stressors: stress‐related health problems and depressive symptoms. Both mothers and children reported on mothers’ competence‐promoting parenting. Structural equation modeling revealed a chain‐like sequence: Perceived discrimination forecast increases in mothers’ stress‐related health problems, which in turn were positively associated with depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms constituted the proximal variable associated with decreases in mothers’ competence‐promoting parenting. These results emerged independent of socioeconomic characteristics.     

Discrimination that Travels: How Ethnicity Affects Party Identification for Southeast Asian Immigrants*

Objectives. The critical importance of party identification as a determinant of vote choice is well documented. Given the increasing diversity of the population in the United States, it is critical that we understand the process of socialization into the political system for immigrant groups. It is especially important that we should be able to distinguish differences in socialization within a group. Methods. Using a framework developed by Cain, Kiewiet, and Uhlaner (1991) , we use newly available data to test their assertions about the development of party identification in Asian‐American immigrants. Results. Looking at a sample of foreign‐born Asian Americans, we find that critical differences can exist within groups. Conclusions. The differences within groups have an important effect on the development of party identification for those immigrants.